Leaders of the National Society of Accountants (NSA) sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives opposing any resolution to impeach or censure Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen.

The letter was co-authored by NSA President Al Giovetti, CPA, ABA, ATA, ARA, and NSA Executive Vice President John Ams. It was sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin.

“We are concerned that the effort to censure or impeach Commissioner Koskinen will hasten the deterioration of the voluntary compliance system that is the cornerstone of our taxing structure,” NSA leaders wrote. “The lack of respect for the IRS shown by such an effort, especially when coupled with the significant budget cuts enacted over the last several years, is already apparent as evidenced by the numerous taxpayers who ask NSA members why they should pay their taxes when the IRS does not have the ability to audit them.

“We are also concerned that impeachment or censure will further disrupt the functioning of the IRS, which already suffers from low morale as a result of inadequate budgets and the inability to hire sufficient staff to deal with an ever-increasing work load.”

Giovetti and Ams concluded the letter by saying, “The effort to impeach or censure Commissioner Koskinen will inevitably take up time the Congress could better spend enacting meaningful tax reform that the taxpaying public, tax professionals, Congress, and the Administration all agree is long overdue.”

Speaking about the decision to send the letter, Ams said, “The steady erosion of resources within the IRS has had a huge detrimental effect on the ability of taxpayers and their paid tax preparers to complete their tax returns in a timely manner. It is increasingly challenging to obtain IRS responses to questions and provide the guidance we often need to comply with the complex tax code. It’s time to focus on better service from the IRS and not penalize Commissioner Koskinen as he works to improve IRS operations.”

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